Vets sound off on Bergdahl return

Veteran Herman Tepstra, of Sussex County, says he would not have wanted to be in a prisoner exchange for terrorists.
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The return to America of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was much on the minds of veterans gathered at the American Legion's New Jersey state convention in Wildwood, with opinions divided on both Bergdahl himself and the Obama administration's decision to swap high-level Taliban prisoners to get him back.

"I think Obama made a bad mistake," said Joe Castellano of American Legion Post 211 in Sayreville, a Marine veteran of Vietnam. "I don't think this guy got snatched. There's more to this story than we know."

"He walked off his post. That cost five or six guys' lives," added Kevin Callahan of Sayreville, referring to news interviews with Afghanistan veterans who recalled searching for Bergdahl.

Other veterans said they await the Army's investigation — and the words of Bergdahl himself — who arrived at an Army hospital in Texas Friday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said there is no evidence to back up claims that six troop deaths resulted from the search for Bergdahl.

"My take on it is, we leave no one behind. They've convicted him before he's back," said Willie Smith of Trenton, an Army veteran of Vietnam, speaking of the denouncing of Bergdahl as a deserter.

Seated around a table in the Wildwood Convention Center, Smith and companions discussed the Bergdahl case.

"No way would I want to be released for a terrorist," said Herman Tepstra, a past vice commander of Post 213 in Sussex County who served in the Army from 1961 to 1967. "I wouldn't want that on my shoulders."

Doug Herrin of Post 148 in Hightstown, who served in the Army from 1988 to 1991, questioned the future consequences of the exchange returning the Taliban members from Guantanomo.

"What do you think those five are going to do back in the field?" he said.

"Get right back into it," another said.

"You're damned right."

A few tables away, Jon Asdourian of Post 12 in Somerville was manning a booth promoting POW/MIA awareness, in the cause of recovering Americans still missing from World War II and onward. Like Smith, Asdourian said the principle of no man left behind should be paramount, even in murky circumstances like Bergdahl's.

"I've been advocating for Bowe Bergdahl for several years," Asdourian said, near a battle flag from one Afghanistan outpost given to him by a younger veteran. "Nobody's going to know the truth of why Bowe left his post until the Army completes its investigation, and Bowe speaks."

"But we succeeded in our mission to bring back a POW," he added. "This is a project close to our hearts, getting the POWs home."

"He's an American and I'm glad he's home. However, you've got to look for what the facts turn out to be," said Ron Bogota of Toms River, an Air Force Vietnam veteran whose son, Dan, served with the Army's 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan.

"I know what these (Bergdahl's) parents feel getting him back," Bogota said. "But we lost six guys searching for him. What about those families?"

Several veterans recalled stories from past wars when Americans went missing and turned up years later, living local lives not far from where they fought.

Cases of soldiers disappearing on their own in Afghanistan go back to the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, Asdourian said.

"Just recently they found a bunch of Russians living in Afghanistan. That's from 30 years ago," he said.